Darren Johnson, who sits as a green member on the GLA (Greater London Authority), joined the Earl’s Court Area Action Group for a site visit this morning. The walkabout covered the 77-acre area of the proposed development, in southwest London that spans the boroughs of Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham. This was an opportunity for Johnson to visualize the scale of the 20-year building project and also to meet residents, small businesses and other interested parties who will be affected by this mammoth project. The most obvious loss if the developers proceed, will be the destruction of the world renowned Earls Court exhibition centre which comprises two exhibition halls, the main hall built in the 1930s and a smaller hall which opened in 1991. But the other loss will be human, that of the 500 plus residents of the West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates who will be forcibly removed from their homes as a result of their housing estates being demolished to make way for what the developers call ‘four villages and a high street’.
Darren Johnson commented that he was shocked at the scale of the development and at the tragic loss of jobs and housing. A diverse range of residents will be affected by this vast development from those in housing association flats, sheltered housing to long-term homeowners who have raised their families in these neighbourhoods.
Small businesses such as hotels, restaurants, office suppliers to bars and pubs have already seen their revenues hit by the uncertainty over the future of Earls Court exhibition centre. Johnson met the manager of the Boka hotel in Eardley Crescent who said hotel booking are down by 30% for long-standing exhibitor clients as the number of exhibitions at ‘Earls Court’ are being cut back. It is rumoured that up to half the hoteliers in Penywern Road are considering selling their hotels in view of the reduced number of exhibitions and the resultant drop in hotel bookings. The effect of this building project will be 10-12 vehicle movements an hour during working hours (with some night work also) over a six-year period with probable building resonance to the surrounding existing 19th century buildings.
Johnson also learned about two important local sources of employment: the Lillie Bridge depot and the Adel Rootstein factory. The Lillie Road depot employs over 500 workers who provide essential maintenance for the tube network by way of a factory/workshop that manufactures track components. The depot is unique in that it is the only workshop in the UK with engineers who can manufacture bespoke items (from sleepers, railway timbers to bridges) that are vital to the railways of the nation. Adel Rootstein Ltd is the world's leading mannequin design company and its factory, based in West Kensington since the 1960s, has been producing realistic fashion ‘dummies’ which can be seen in many a shop window around the world. These two important sources of employment are threatened by the Earl’s Court building project.
Darren Johnson commented after his visit that the people who will be affected by this immense development come from all different backgrounds and represent a cross section of society who function in a diverse local economy and residential community which appears to be working well and does not need to be ‘bull-dozered’ to create (according to the literature of developers and the local Councils) “new homes, a better environment and improved job opportunities”.
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Information for editors
The Earl’s Court Area Action Group was set up in early December 2012 as a campaign group made up of residents with the aim requesting Eric Pickles, M.P., Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, to call-in the planning applications submitted by the developer. The website of the group – www.saveearlscourt.com has a petition which can be signed online.
3.1. 2013The campaign was set up to save Earl’s Court from demolition and overdevelopment following the recent approval by both the Councils of the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham for the various Planning Applications submitted by the developer, CapCo.
The group view this massive 77 acre, 20-year project to be out of all proportion with the immediate and surrounding area with potential devastating consequences for pollution, traffic levels, structural damage to existing neighbouring properties as well as harming the local economy of shops, businesses and service industries which operate in the Earl’s Court area as well as the uprooting and forced removal of over 750 residents from their homes in Hammersmith & Fulham. The wisdom of granting planning permission for such a mammoth project, which covers an area likened to that of a small village, without any realistic thought being given to the likely effects on the infrastructure of the existing community of densely populated neighbouring streets, is being called into question.
The neighbourhood of Earl’s Court is a mainly residential ward in the borough of Kensington & Chelsea – a borough of central London which is often quoted as being one of the most densely populated built up area in western Europe. There are approximately 10,000 Earl’s Court residents. Earl’s Court already has dangerous levels of traffic pollution from vehicle emissions and has repeatedly gone over EU levels imposed on capital cities of member states and fines may have to be issued.
The impact on air quality during and on completion of this building project will be severe. The group questions the validity of the Mayor, who is already facing fines by the EU over exceeding traffic emission limits, actively promoting a project which will reduce the impact on the air quality in London. As Mayor, Boris Johnson is responsible for maintaining safe air quality levels so ECAAG question his compromised position as a conflict of interest. Transport for London (TFL) own extensive tracts of land which form part of the territory of the project site thus this would be a second conflict of interest for the Mayor and his capacity to be able to determine these planning applications.
ECAAG have provided an online petition which will be presented to Eric Pickles, M.P., Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, asking the Minister to call-in the planning applications which entail not only the demolition of the Grade two listed 1930s Earls Court Exhibition buildings sited in Kensington & Chelsea but also the demolition of over 750 homes to residents of the West Kensington and Gibbs Green Estates in the adjacent borough of Hammersmith & Fulham.
The impact of this project will also be felt by the UK Exhibitions Industry who consider the Earls Court Exhibition centre as a key venue for their trade – for its central location and modern facilities. Furthermore there will be negative impacts on the local and national economies as the exhibition centre provides much secondary trade for local hotels, businesses and bars and restaurants. The residential units of this project will have an average price of £2.39 million per apartment. This house price will not be for the average Londoner but rather an overseas property investor. The development would overload the capacity of the tube and road system in this area of south-west London in what is already an area with very busy roads with all-day traffic and three tube stations which are heavily used by passengers who stand three deep on platforms as they commute to work.
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Information for editors
The Earl’s Court Area Action Group was set up in early December 2012 as a campaign group made up of residents with the aim requesting Eric Pickles, M.P., Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, to call-in the planning applications submitted by the developer. The website of the group – www.saveearlscourt.com has a petition which can be signed online.
